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David Williams is President and Chief Executive Officer of Merkle Inc., one of the nation's largest and fastest-growing database marketing agencies. Williams oversees the delivery of quantitative information-based database marketing strategy and solutions to hundreds of nationally recognized clients that include the American Cancer Society, Blockbuster, Capital One, CARE, DELL, DIRECTV, Disney, GEICO, Nike, Procter & Gamble, the Arthritis Foundation, and many others.
Williams acquired the company, which was then called Merkle Computer Systems, Inc., in 1988 at the age of 25, becoming the company's 24th employee. Today, Merkle has more than 900 employees in locations throughout the United States, including Washington, DC, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Philadelphia, and Seattle. David has aggressively grown the company at a 25% compound annual growth rate for the past 18 years, most recently fueled by the 2007 acquisition of CFM Direct. Merkle is a privately held corporation and is headquartered near Washington, DC in Lanham, Maryland.
Under Williams's leadership, Merkle has been recognized as a market leader by Forrester Research three consecutive times (2003, 2006 and 2007), and by Advertising Age as the 15th largest marketing services agency in the U.S. (8th specializing in direct marketing). Merkle has also received numerous awards for its work with clients, from organizations including the National Center for Database Marketing, the Direct Marketing Association of Washington, and AD:Tech. David recently received recognition by Winning Workplaces and Fortune Magazine as one of America's Best Bosses of 2006, and Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for 2007 in Maryland.
Williams is an active member of the direct and database marketing community. He is currently serving a three-year term on the Board of Directors of the Direct Marketing Association, and serves as a member of the Executive Committee. David is a frequent speaker at industry events and has written numerous articles and white papers about topics such as best-in-class database marketing strategies, customer management, and marketing technology infrastructure.
Williams began his career at Butcher & Singer, a Philadelphia-based investment bank, and holds a BS in Business Administration from Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania. | 